Quintus Smyrnaeus
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Quintus Smyrnaeus, also known as Kointos Smyrnaios (Template:Lang-el), was a Greek epic poet whose Posthomerica, following "after Homer" continues the narration of the Trojan War.
The Posthomerica
The first four books, covering the same ground as the Aethiopis of Arctinus of Miletus, describe the doughty deeds and deaths of Penthesileia the Amazon, of Memnon, son of Eos, the dawn goddess, slain by Achilles, and of Achilles himself; and the funeral games in his honour.
Books five through twelve, covering the same ground as the Little Iliad of Lesches, span the contest between Aias and Odysseus for the arms of Achilles, the death of Aias of suicide after his loss, the exploits of Neoptolemus, Eurypylus and Deiphobus, the deaths of Paris and Oenone, and the building of the wooden horse.
The remaining books, covering the same ground as Arctinus' The Sack of Troy, relate the capture of Troy by means of the wooden horse, the sacrifice of Polyxena at the grave of Achilles, the departure of the Greeks, and their dispersal by storm.
References
- Z. Zimmermann (author of other valuable articles on the poet), (1891)
- Franz Kehmptzow, De Quinti Smyrnaei fontibus ac mythopoeia (1889)
- C.-A. Sainte-Beuve, Etude sur . . . Quinte de Smyrne (1857)
- F.A. Paley, Quintus Smyrnaeus and the "Homer" of the tragic Poets (1879)
- G. W. Paschal, A Study of Quintus Smyrnaeus (Chicago, 1904).-->
